This is believed to be an American first: a Texas judge wants sex offenders on probation kept from visiting Net porn by forcing them to use Internet service providers which filter Net porn and other sexually-oriented websites. Bexar County is making a formal proposal on the idea by District Judge Samuel Katz, which would also extend to online chat rooms and Usenet newsgroups.
As Katz himself acknowledged, it is now almost impossible to tell which Websites sex offenders might visit once they're home, making it difficult for a court to determine whether they're adhering to probation terms in their computer activity - including not visiting porn sites or chat rooms where children visit.
And the judge acknowledges a potential Constitutional problem - but he thinks it may prove moot in the long run. "One of the issues that come up is whether this is a First Amendment right," he told APBNews. "Certainly, you are curtailing a First Amendment right. On the other hand, we don't allow felons to vote and don't allow felons to possess handguns. This is only new ground because it was not conceived of by the founders of our country."
Both Katz and the county officials making the proposal insist the ISPs involved would be monitors - including providing logs if needed - but not enforcers. "The ISP would have to monitor and screen Internet use by the supervised sex offenders," APBNews continued, "and report any violations to the court and the district attorney's office."
But hard enforcement details are yet to be determined - and other observers suggest that monitoring sex offenders' online habits is one thing but cutting the proper balance might be a risk, as sex offender management specialist Margaret Griffin of the American Probation and Parole Association said.
